is my psu creating instability

[Ian Pregowski]

I have a Sentey Extreme 550w psu and when i overclock my gpu or cpu they run cool but my games still crash, is it my psu that might be causing this to happen. I have a fx-6300 and a r7 260x.

 

[mgalyan]

I have been building PC's for decades, and have often wondered if there is ANY way for an average person to test this theory. I've never found one. PSU's are relatively inexpensive parts. Try another one and you'll know. Could be wimpy VRMs on the motherboard.

Edit: The only other thing I can think of is to use a system monitor application with logging, then look at your voltage levels under load and look for drops or peaks. Might be an indicator of bad PSU.

 

[lodders]

Maybe your power supply is a problem
BUT it is much more likely that you have messed up your overclocking.

To make CPUs and GPUs go faster and stay stable, they need A LITTLE more voltage. When you increase the voltage, the temperatures increase.

All CPUs and GPUs have a speed beyond which they become unstable regardless of voltage. Once you get too close to this limit, your PC crashes a lot

 

[lodders]

I have been building PC's for decades, and have often wondered if there is ANY way for an average person to test this theory. I've never found one. PSU's are relatively inexpensive parts. Try another one and you'll know. Could be wimpy VRMs on the motherboard.

Edit: The only other thing I can think of is to use a system monitor application with logging, then look at your voltage levels under load and look for drops or peaks. Might be an indicator of bad PSU.

When a cheap old PSU failed in an overclocked PC belonging to my daughter, I wondered if the new PSU would allow a higher overclock. It made no difference.